The stepfather of a toddler who died from a heart laceration told police he "never raised a hand" to the child, a court has heard.

Matthew Rigby is on trial at Brimingham Crown Court, along with the girl's mother Kathryn Smith, accused of murdering Ayeeshia Jane Smith when she was just 21 months old.

The injuries to Ayeeshia were said to have been caused by a stamp at the family home in May 2014.

Jurors were told Rigby changed his account to detectives, first claiming he heard "a massive squeal" from the girl at the property but later describing it as "a little cry".

He also said how the girl's temperature was measured at 32.5C (90.5F) after she stopped breathing, the trial heard.

But jurors have already been told paramedics on the scene within minutes described the youngster as being cold.

Ayeeshia's stepfather Matthew Rigby denies murder

Ayeeshia had many injuries including broken ribs and a fatally ruptured heart and Rigby suggested they may have been sustained during his attempts at CPR.

He and 23-year-old Smith are both on trial accused of murder, and separately of causing or allowing the death of the toddler, and cruelty to a youngster under 16.

In a police interview, 22-year-old Rigby described what he said had happened on the day the toddler, who was known to social services, died.

He said he was outside tidying the garden in Burton-upon-Trent in Staffordshire while Smith was in the kitchen that afternoon.

Ayeeshia had been on the sofa watching TV but had taken herself to bed, which he told detectives was "strange".

Ayeeshia's mother Kathryn Smith also denies murder

After he finished gardening, he heard the child cry so the couple went to her bedroom where the girl was lying apparently lifeless in her cot.

"It was just a little cry," he told police.

In an earlier interview he had described what he heard as "a massive squeal" and was asked about it by detectives.

Rigby replied: "It wasn't a massive scream obviously - I said that the day afterwards, but there was a significant noise."

As he went into the bedroom, he saw Ayeeshia was "purple", "very pale", and "floppy" when he picked her up.

He carried her into the front room of their flat and Rigby began CPR, while Smith dialled 999.

Rigby said Ayeeshia had an undiagnosed milk intolerance which meant she could have lacked calcium in her bones, adding he may have caused injuries carrying out CPR on the laminate floor of the front room.

Meanwhile, a midwife told the court she found Smith, then almost three months pregnant, living in her father's garage in May 2012 ahead of Ayeeshia's birth.

Hilary Sayles said: "She was in a garage. There was a bed and furniture, but it was clearly unsuitable for a new baby - or anybody."

She referred her case to social services over the housing issues and Smith moved into her own flat, the jury heard.

Smith and Rigby, both of Nottingham, deny the charges against them and the trial continues.